


an eternity

by SolidStateScouter



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Gen, Gender Identity, Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Other, Trans Female Character, Trans Female Gohan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-03 01:19:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4081015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolidStateScouter/pseuds/SolidStateScouter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gohan had faced down an alien tyrant on a dying planet. </p><p>But that nothing was nothing compared to telling her father she was a girl.</p><p>(Takes place during the year Goku and Gohan spend in the time chamber leading up to the final fight with Cell.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	an eternity

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber was ruthless.

The temperature would change from unbearably cold to blisteringly hot in seconds. The increased gravity was oppressive - when Gohan had first entered, it had brought her to her knees. It was unlike anything she had ever dealt with before. And the deeper you went in the chamber, the more dangerous it got.

Goku was unfazed. Even as the air thinned and breaths became hard to take, he continued.

He was amazing. After the two of them got out, he'd certainly be able to destroy Cell. If Vegeta and Trunks hadn't already, anyways. Goku had his doubts. He said that Vegeta would be too intrigued at the prospect of Cell's perfect power to destroy him. And he had already surpassed his son. Trunks wouldn't be able to stop him, Goku had said. And Gohan had to agree with him.

She knew Vegeta. He was a ruthless, selfish monster who only ever did things for himself. He didn't care about his son from the future, or about Bulma. He only wanted to fight and conquer. 

For now, they had stopped their training to have lunch. The food in the Time Chamber was bland and mostly tasteless. "I miss your mother's cooking," Goku sulked, scooping a spoonful of noodles into his mouth. The time chamber only had enough food to last a year. That was assuming that the people inside ate a normal amount of food, which saiyans did not. So the two of them had to ration what they had carefully.

It would be awfully embarrassing if the two of them starved before they finished. Gohan didn't think the dragon could bring them back if that happened. Not like it mattered. When Piccolo fused with Kami, the dragon balls had ceased to exist. If anyone died, they were done for good. It was a sobering thought. Gohan realized that she probably shouldn't be so used to death. She was only ten.

Only ten, and she had dealt with so much more than most adults. She remembered Piccolo's death, as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. When even was yesterday? Time passed in the chamber quickly. It was hard to gauge. Minutes passed into hours. Hours passed into days. They'd spend hours fighting and training and only realize it when they looked back at the hourglass.

"I think we're really onto something, Gohan," Goku muttered, between mouthfuls of food. "By perfecting the Super Saiyan transformation, we should be able to pull out all of our power without any difficulty! Aw, man. I can't wait to see the look on Vegeta's face when I show him my full power! Cell's going to enjoy it, I'm sure. Man, I hope he's worth the wait. It'll be so disappointing if he isn't a challenge. Ha! Vegeta's surpassed him, at least the Cell that we had sensed before. I don't think Vegeta's going to have a lot of fun with that. But if he manages to absorb Android 18..." Goku's brow furrows. "That could definitely be a problem."

Gohan was barely paying attention. She was picking at her food halfheartedly. She wasn't hungry. Training had ruined her appetite. Thinking about the Saiyan invasion had ruined her appetite. Her father was still talking, going on and on about potential strategies to use in his fight against Cell. Gohan looked at him. Would he accept her for who she was? A girl? She had no reason to believe otherwise, and yet... anxiety brewed in her stomach. She looked back down at her food. She wasn't hungry.

Piccolo had accepted her. She had brought it up with him, one day while they were training together for the androids. (Funny, how little a difference all that training made.) He had just looked at her. Piccolo didn't understand. Not due to any conflicts with his own identity. He just didn't understand why that would be a problem. "If you say you're a girl, Gohan, then you're a girl. Your body doesn't define who you are. It's just a shell for your thoughts. You don't need my acceptance, or anyone else's. If Goku can't accept that, then he can go to hell." 

It had been reassuring. But Gohan still didn't want her father to go to Hell. He wasn't a bad person. He was careless and naive, yes, but he had a good heart. He was her hero. So many times, she remembered him swooping in and saving her from disaster. With Nappa. With Recoome. With Freeza. Gohan didn't want to think badly of him. Not after everything.

Goku's voice breaks her out of her thoughts. "Hey, Gohan. Are you alright? You haven't touched any of your food." Her father looks at her, concern evident in his voice. "We're going to need to stay well-fed if we want to get strong enough to defeat Cell!" 

Gohan nods and spoons a scoop of soup into her mouth. It's tasteless. "I miss mom," she mutters, staring into her bowl. That's another thing. She has no idea how Chi Chi would respond to her being a girl. Hopefully she would understand. Hopefully she would be supportive. The thought of the alternative only makes Gohan's stomach twist more. She still wasn't hungry. 

"I know." Goku claps her back gently. "It's okay. We'll be out soon. We only have a couple months left! Then we can beat Cell and we can all go home." 

Gohan doesn't respond, not at first. For so much of the time she had spent inside the chamber, she had been itching to tell him. Goku was receptive. He may be naive, but he wasn't stupid. He would listen. He would try to understand. "...Hey, dad." 

"Yeah?" Goku leans back in his chair and smiles at her gently. It's in sharp contrast to the expressions she's used to seeing him wear when he's a Super Saiyan. She had always associated the transformation with rage. That's what had brought it out in him, and in her. Even Vegeta was gripped by an anger she had only seen him rarely exhibit before, now that he was a Super Saiyan. But now, Goku looked relaxed.

Gohan swallows nervously. "I, uh. I think I'm a girl." She shakes her head. "No, no. I. I am a girl."

There's a short silence. Gohan doesn't dare look back up at Goku. "Okay! I have a daughter now, then, right?"  Gohan's mouth falls open and she looks up. Goku is still smiling. "If you say you're a girl, you're a girl! I don't see why you couldn't be a girl." He eats another mouthful of food. "Who am I to tell you what to do? You're a girl. And I know that you'll make me and your mother proud, whether you be a boy or a girl or anything else! We'll love you all the same."

Gohan didn't know what to say.

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it. Tears were welling in her eyes, and she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around Goku's shoulders. Her father chuckled. "Thank you, dad."

**Author's Note:**

> [coughs] Guys, consider it. Trans girl Gohan. It's so good. So real.


End file.
